Device for protecting condensers



- 1 643 803 Sept. 27 A. G 7 3 DEVICE FOR PROTECTING CONDENSERS Filed Feb. 18. 1922 I N VEN TOR.

Patented Sept. 27,1927.

ARTHUR G. IB'OGABDUS, OF CHICAGO, iILLIIlOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GBISCOM-RUSSELL PATENT OFFICE.

column, or NEW YORK, 1;. Y., A conroaa'rron or nnnawm. a

DEVICE roa raornorme connsnsnas.

Application am: February is, 1922. Serial in. 531,491.

The present invention relates to apparatus pum or under the influence of ravity at a. f the vapors sufiicient rate to condense all 0 entering the condenser, .or such portions of them as it is desired to condense. Suitable apparatus may be provided for the purpose of allowing only condensate to escape from the condenser. open to the objection that, upon failure of the cooling liquid supplied, vapors will rapidly accumulate within the condenser and in the absence of any cooli medium to convey away the latent heat 0 vaporization will remain uncondensed and are likely to produce pressures sometimes dangerous within the various apparatus.

In the oil refining industry it is particularly common to distill the crude petroleum at low ressures, is usually operated at. atmospheric pressure and is not built sufiicientlystrong to with-.-

stand pressures materially above atmospheric. The distilled vapors are commonly passed from the low pressure still directly to the condensing apparatus, from which the condensate is continuouslydrawn oil as it accumulates. A decrease or cutting off of the supply of cooling water to the condenser results in accumulation of distilled vapors within the condenser witha consequent rise in pressure. Inasmuch as the condenser and low pressure distilling apparatus are in d1-- rect communication, this pressure is transferred to the distilling apparatus and is likely to burst parts of theapparatus with resulting damage to property and danger if the trouble is not located immediately. It is a principal object of the present invention to provide protective apparatus for condensers which serves to temporarily con- This type. of condenser is The" distilling apparatus condense.

from normal, thus obviating the likelihood of failure in an emergency.

It is a still further object to provide r0.-

tective apparatus of this type which oes not add materially tothe cost of a plant,

and which furthermore may easily and conveniently be applied to existing installations.

Ihave illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings; in which Fig. 1 is a view, somewhat diagrammatic, of a typical layout illustrating the application of my improved protective apparatus to .a condenser system; and Fig. 2 1s a similar view showing a modified adaptation of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, 1 indicates a condenser employed for the condensing of vapors conveyed to it through the line 2. The vapor supply to the condenser may be steam from an evaporating plant, oils, gasoline, kerosene, or the like, from a etroleum distilling system, or other vapor w ich it is desired to The condensate is discharged from the condenser through the line 3, suitable means (not shown) being provided if desired to prevent the escape of uncondensed vapors. The flow ofthe vapor into the condenser may be continuous or intermittent,

and the cooling water supplied through line 4 by means of a pump 5 effects a continuous condensation of a portionof the vapor, the condensate being discharged constantly through the pipe 3 and conveyed to a storage reservoir or point of use- The condenser 1 may be of any desired type, but I have here illustrated a condenser similar to that disclosed in the patent to Russell C, Jones, No. -1,335,506. The vapor "is preferably admitted at the'top of the condenser into a plurality of tubes 6 extending longitudinally of the apparatus. Condensation occurs during the passage of the length of the tubes,

I ing 9 and issues from the condenser.

. the space Surrounding the tubes 6 and from thence flows upwardly, following the course of the bafile, until itreaches the outlet oplelir 1e type of condenser shown may be employed for the'condensation of vapors of any kind, but is particularly applicable for condensing oil va ors. The small volume of fluid contained in the condenser at any one time and the consequent small space occupied render this type of condenser convenient for installation, while the high velocity of the cooling fluid through the shell effects a high heat transfer efficiency.

In the normal operation of the condenser, cooling fluid is supplied by the pump 5 through the line 4 and, after traversing the condenser, is conveyed away through outlet 9 and the line'11. My im roved protective apparatus comprises a tan or reservoir 10 positioned at a level above that of the conenser 1 and. receiving its supply of water through the discharge line 11. uring normal operation the tank 10 remains full, and as water is discharged into it through the line 11 an overflow pipe 12 serves to hold .the liquidlevel within the tank at a fixed position.

A discharge .line 13 leads from the bottom of the tank through the valve 14 and joinswith the water supply line 4. The valve 14 ma be a manual 3" controlled valve of the or inary type, but in order to secure automatic operation of my protective apparatus 1' preferably construct this valve as a check or back pressure valve which is operated by variations in pressure in the line on opposite sides of the valve. Under normal conditions the valve is subjected to a downward pressure due. to the head of liquid in the elevated reservoir 10, and at the same time is .ex-

" posed to anu ward pressure imparted to it ."the'under-side of valve 14 will from the fee line 4. Under these conditions valve 14'is arranged to remain closed,

while a similar valve 15 placed in the feed line tat a 'oint between the pump and its junction wit line 13 remains open.

-U on failure of the water supply through the. ine 4.due to any cause the ressure on relieved. As a result, the unbalanced downward pressure of the head of cooler liquid in the reservoir 10 will be greater than the pressure from the hotter liquid passing through the condenser and will serve to open the valve and permit water from the tank to enter the feed line 4. The backward pressure exerted upon the valve 15 by this inrush of water serves to close it and consequently directs the entire flow from the tank 10 into the condenser 1. Inasmuch as an appreciable head is required to force the cooling fluid up through the tortuous passage formed by the battle 8, the tank 10 must be positioned at a considerable height above the upper end of the condenser; that is, the available head determined by the difference in weight of the cold water column in tank 10 and line 13 and that of the warm water column in the condenser and in line 11 must be suflicient to maintain a steady circulation of liquid -tinuous circulation beestablished between the tank and the condenser through their connecting pipes. If the vapor in the condenser 1 accumulates more rapidly than under normal conditions due to the fact that it is not being condensed as perfectly, the temperature in the condenser will rise slightly and will increase the thermo-siphon action of the apparatus, thus supplying cooling erabl made large enough so that the vapor supp y to the condenser may be condensed for a period of from 2 or 3 minutes to one hour or more, during which time ample precautions may be taken to restore the normal supply of cooling fluid or stop or. divert the supply of vapor to the condenser. When the normal supply of cooling fluid is again set in motion the pressure exerted by the pump 5 will cause valve 15 to open and a pressure will again be exerted upwardly on the'valve 14 suflicient to close it and to maintain it closed until further interruption of the water supply. A hand operated or thermostatically controlled valve may be provided in line 13 if desired so that the tank 10 may be retained full to capacity even after the supply pump 5 has been shut down.

I have described the application of my improved system to the protection of a con-- denser of an type, and have referred to that type of con enser disclosed in the Russell C.

Jones atent reviously mentioned. It isito' be un ersto that my protective system is applicable to condensers or heat exchangers of the general type which preferably'comprises atubular passage for one of the fluids and a space surrounding the tubes for conwater more rapidly. The tank 10 is pref-- taining the other fluid. The cooling fluid may be passed through thet'ubes or tl'irough the space surrounding the 't'ubes,.as desired, the provision of a battle or other means for directing the flow through the condenser being common.

My invention is further applicable to that ty e of condenser commonly employed in oil rel ineries which is known as a fractional condenser, inasmuch as only a fraction of the vapors admitted to the apparatus are condensed. The oil vapors issuing from the distilling apparatus commonly comprise a number of distinct components the vaporizing temperatures of WhlCh are different. It is possible, therefore, to condense certain of these constituents within the apparatus while those of lower boiling point may pass through uncondensed. The cooling medlum in the condenser may conveniently be cold water or, as is often the case in oil refining establishments, cold oil on its way to the distilling apparatus. The heat im arted to the cold oil in its passage through t e condenser is utilized in the distilling apparatus in that a lesser amount of heat is necessary to raisethe temperature of the incoming oil to the desired degree. It is obvious that this invention may be applied to a system in which oil or other liquid is employed as the cooling medium, as well as in one in which cold water is the circulating fluid of the condenser.

I have illustrated and described my in vention as applied to the protection of a single condenser, but the storage tank 10 may be arranged to protect a numberlof condensers as illustrated in Fig. 2. The battery of condensers 1 may normally be supplied with cooling fluid through a common line 4, and the water after traversing the condensers may be conveyed to the tan 10 through a common line 11. However if desired, each condenser may be rovided with its individual connections an supply pump; Ordinarily a battery'of condensers as shown will be associated with a common source of vapor supply or will at least be supplied with vapor of some kind. However, it is possible to operate a battery of condensers in this manner, some of which are, for instance, condensing oil vapors while others are condensing the out 'ut from an evaporator plant. I preferably employ a single storage, reservoir or elevated tank 10 which may be located at any convenient point above the level of the con-'.

densers. If desired, however, a luralityof storage tanks 10 may be provi ed,.the capacity of each tank being determined by the number and size of the condensers which it is to protect.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it

1s to be understood that .a number of being. automatically opene changes may be made in the specific fea tures of the layout without dgparting from the spirit of. the invention as efined in the appendedclaims.

1. Apparatus of theclass described, comprising a condenser for -receivingthehotvapors, means for normally maintaining a circulationiwf. cooling fluidi )through lsfl'ld condenser, and means for automatically maintaining said circulation fora substantial length of time upon failure of said first mentioned circulating means.

2. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a condenser for receiving the "hot vapors, a principal means for normally supplying cooling fiuidto said condenser, and independent means actuated in definite .relation to the flow of said cooling medium for automatically maintaining a circulation of the cooling medium through the condenser upon failure of said principal fluid supplxing means. I

3. pparatus of the class described, comprising a condenser for receiving the hot vapors, a principal means for normally suplying cooling fluid to said condenser, and independent fluid supplying means com-v prising afluid reservoir, connections between the reservoir and said condenser, and a control valve in said connections actuated in definite relation with. the flow'of the principal fluid supply. t

4. Apparatus of t e class described, comprising a condenser for receiving the hot vapors, a principal means for normally supplying cooling fluid to said condenser, and independent fluid supply means com prising a fluid reservoir, connections between the reservoir and said condenser, and

acontrol valve in said connections normally maintained closed, said valve bein auto matically opened upon failure of said principal fluid supplying means for maintain-' ing a circulation t-hrou 'h said condenser. 5. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a condenser for receiving'thehot vapors, a princi al means for normally suplying cooling uid to saidcondenser, and

independent fiuid supplying means comprising a fluid reservoir ositioned at a I higher level than said con enser, a cOnnec-ttion between the fluid reservoir and the condenser, and a valve in said connection normally maintained closed by the pressure of said principal fluid slcilppl'y, said valve y the pressure of the liquid in said reservoir, upon failure of said principal fluid supply.

,6. Apparatus oftheclass described, comprising a condenserfor receiving the hot vapors, a principal fluid. assage for. normally conveying cooling uid tosaid con-- denser, and independent fluid supplying means comprising a fluid lreserv oir positioned at a higher level than said condenser, matically closed by the pressure of the a valve in sand connections normall main- 1i uid in said reservoir upon failure of said tained closed by the pressure ofsai principrincipal fluid sup 1y.

pal fluid su pl and a second valve'm said In testimony wliereof I afiix my signai'5 principal ui t lmssege normally mainture.

tained open, said rst valve being automatically opened and said second valve auto- ARTHUR G. BOGARDUS. 

